trusting used cars ....

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon May 19, 2014 9:56 pm

As I tear into bits'n'pieces of my project Brumby, bloody glad I did not just get in and drive it.The bodgy brothers have been working on it. I got it as a lame Brumby, hobbled by what a qualified tradesman did to resurrect it in a dealership of all places ! I found a mess, mistakes in what appeared to be his work. The tell tale left over hoses and invoice tell a story

Also found someone elses work, inlet manifold gasket substitution with orange silastic. Missing the spacer between head and alternator bracket, just relying on an air gap for mechanical fastening. Other bolts for it were finger tight.

Pulled out of my hoard from yesteryear, new discs and pads ...find the 'brother' could not read the print on the old pads when installed - I could read them as I pulled 'em out RH outer on the left front, LH outer on the right !! They musta been hard to get in, coz they were hard to get out - the wear squealers are about

Both CV shafts nuts were wrist tight, not real good for things.

One calliper slider bolt (for pad change) was the legendary finger tight, with the other side tight as to make up for it

Fortunately the pistons wound back nicely with no trouble. Not bad for having sat for 9 years

T.Farm.Brumby · Post by **T.Farm.Brumby** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:12 pm

steptoe wrote:As I tear into bits'n'pieces of my project Brumby, bloody glad I did not just get in and drive it.The bodgy brothers have been working on it. I got it as a lame Brumby, hobbled by what a qualified tradesman did to resurrect it in a dealership of all places ! I found a mess, mistakes in what appeared to be his work. The tell tale left over hoses and invoice tell a story

Also found someone elses work, inlet manifold gasket substitution with orange silastic. Missing the spacer between head and alternator bracket, just relying on an air gap for mechanical fastening. Other bolts for it were finger tight.

Pulled out of my hoard from yesteryear, new discs and pads ...find the 'brother' could not read the print on the old pads when installed - I could read them as I pulled 'em out RH outer on the left front, LH outer on the right !! They musta been hard to get in, coz they were hard to get out - the wear squealers are about

Both CV shafts nuts were wrist tight, not real good for things.

One calliper slider bolt (for pad change) was the legendary finger tight, with the other side tight as to make up for it

Fortunately the pistons wound back nicely with no trouble. Not bad for having sat for 9 years

I know these feels man

I was repairing my girlfriend and her roommate's mower on the weekend and the wire to the spark plug was twist and taped as a repair, done by the neighbour.
A piece of speaker wire was knotted into the main wire, and I'm talking granny knot, and then knotted onto the spark plug, then smothered in sparky's tape.

They were going to buy a new mower because it stopped working >.<

$12 worth of solder and a couple of connecter ends later and it was fixed.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:51 pm

I know the feeling too.
This L wagon I'm re-doing all the mechanicals in makes me scared that I even used up nearly 1 tank of fuel driving it. More than half the bolts have been finger tight and I'm not kidding. Even the front castellated nuts, and that's with no split pins in them either.
I will post up pics of the "lift kit" too - blocks made out of bits of thin box section without even any anti-crush tubing inside - strangely, they are partially crushed!

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon May 19, 2014 11:12 pm

Who doesn't know the feeling?

That (junk) L touring wagon I bought to drive around in, seller said there was minor rust around the windscreen no big deal nothing major (silly me believed him) and the windscreen was cracked because something had slid forward from the back and hit from the inside. Became pretty obvious someone had tried taking it out, cracked it, painted what was left of the steel (not much by the way) in some kind of rust proofing paint (too little too late) and just glued the old cracked screen back in with black silicone! Off to scrap yard that went.

My current daily Brumby had it's fair share of dodgy stuff as well; started with the gear knob being glued on with Kwik Fix, engine mounts missing bolts, clapped out engine hoses full of burnt oil residue, clutch took a whack with a hammer to remove and the clutch dust stain is still on the concrete! A small pile poured out. Don't even get me started on the drive shaft saga. Running and driving pretty good now though compared to what it was.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue May 20, 2014 10:01 pm

I'm not sure there is any such thing as "trusting used cars" - you really need to check it out before you make a purchase!

With that said - Redback before I made the purchase had some obvious issues, but I had a gut feeling that it had been in a prang at some stage - but I couldn't find anything that suggested otherwise without pulling the car apart. Got it home and found the driver's door, front guard and front area have been replaced at some point - the workmanship looks great and I'm happy with it.

But it pays to pay attention to your gut instinct - trick is to hold your emotions back so you can really think about it and feel that instinct.

Ruby Scoo - kind of the same thing. But there was no gut instinct on this one - she just looked great, was a good price but seemed down on power. Go her home and discovered "blown head gaskets" - no worries, strip the engine down, then find a CRACKED cylinder - this engine had been seriously overheated. The fun began there and it still continues

With all of that said, these vehicles (and others) were purchased knowing they need work, most of it has been known but there have been some left field curlies to keep things interesting.

Cheers

Bennie

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue May 20, 2014 10:23 pm

Here's the lift blocks I took of my current wagon a couple of days ago. Lol...

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue May 20, 2014 11:00 pm

^ Yep, that looks like it's pretty sturdy!!!

I've seen the same done with 5mm thick box steel on an MY - and it seemed to hold up well. I cringe at some of the massive lift kits they run on USMB without reinforcing or crush tube, not that they need it due to using a top and bottom bolt setup...

That goes to show that it's worth the effort to get to know your new vehicle!

Cheers

Bennie

Wooster · Post by **Wooster** » Thu May 22, 2014 12:51 pm

I think we have all experienced the pain with second hand vehicles, what's the old saying?. " No pain no Gain"

In reality the discoveries both good and bad are I believe what we may really drive us with old machines.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Thu May 22, 2014 1:51 pm

Wooster wrote:may really drive us with old machines.

Assuming we can successfully keep the damn things driving

Wooster · Post by **Wooster** » Thu May 22, 2014 2:49 pm

so true!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat May 24, 2014 11:29 am

AndrewT wrote:Assuming we can successfully keep the damn things driving

The only thing that realistically stops me is finance... The cost of all these vehicles on the road is what does me in - otherwise I'd have more!

Parts/work etc isn't much of a problem...

Cheers

Bennie

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat May 24, 2014 7:09 pm

Found another legacy from previous owner today; Had to pull up the floor mat to find a spring clip that had fallen down behind it while trying to change clutch cable...removed drivers side kick panel to find a WHOLE long sleeved T-shirt stuffed into the hole at the bottom of the A pillar. What's more, it was damp

And a whole sand pit was found under the floor mat itself, also damp. Wondering how this stuff got here I conclude this ute must have done a fair few creek/river crossings in the past. Shirt stuffed in there to stop water getting in or out? I sincerely hope there isn't a leak in the A pillar somewhere.

Nubaru · Post by **Nubaru** » Sat May 24, 2014 9:57 pm

a big rat with long arms ?

Wooster · Post by **Wooster** » Mon May 26, 2014 12:11 pm

MAybe the T SHirt is a rare beast, see what you can flog it for on ebay mate

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon May 26, 2014 8:33 pm

That's not cool Silverbullet! Better that you found it though! At least now you can do something about it, especially if there is a leak in the A pillar.

Cheers

Bennie

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue May 27, 2014 7:53 am

it really is not a case of trusting used cars, but just what previous owners have done or not done properly

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri May 30, 2014 9:59 pm

steptoe wrote:it really is not a case of trusting used cars, but just what previous owners have done or not done properly

Half the fun of buying a used vehicle I reckon - working it out prior to making a purchase usually makes for a better experience

Cheers

Bennie

FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU · Post by **FALCONCONVERTTOSUBARU** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 9:25 pm

well my 1800 dollar one is no perfect one either. Exhaust was shagged whole system including y pipe, wheel bearings shot, rack ends shot, rack boots one wasn't even a rack boot and the other appeared to be the factory one, it had the filthiest oil in it and had 5L of oil in it and as a result leaking out both tapid covers and the timing cover, and I suspect my auto might be leaking, and my rack might be leaking too.